Chess Articles

Computers continually change the way we play chess. The reports about new cases of computer cheating are a sad reality these days. We already discussed the many way computers affect chess in this series of articles: (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 an... |Read More

I am the proud owner of the obscure volume Pillsbury's Chess Career, published in 1922 by the American Chess Bulletin and written by two English amateurs, Philip Walsingham Sergeant and William Henry Watts. For several months i... |Read More

Let this video guide serve as the official reference point to help you find Chess.com videos on your favorite chess players throughout history!
Chess.com has enjoyed lessons from the best coaches and players within our game. Hopefully,... |Read More

Among the less-trodden paths White can follow against the Sicilian Defense is the system with the seemingly paradoxical combination of Nc3 and Bb5.
To my knowledge, this variation, unlike most of the other anti-Sicilians, has no name.... |Read More

This article was published in the "British Chess Magazine" three months after Paul Morphy's death. It was obviously written as a memorial to Morphy and meant to showcase his genius as well as an attempt to explain his winning techniques... |Read More

Knights are tricky little pieces. Often seen dancing around the board like little mischievous imps, knights have the power to bewilder and confuse even the strongest of grandmasters.
I want to take a deeper look at one particular knigh... |Read More

Reaching One’s GM Chess Potential
Chess.com member Philippe Silex777 asked:
I have been reading your articles for a while now and have a question that I can’t find a satisfying answer to. It’s pretty simple: You wrote books a... |Read More

One thing nearly all chess players have in common is that they hate to lose.
Losing, while it might be good for our long-term chess development, is a short-term disaster for our ego.
Unlike games such as Monopoly or poker, luck is not even a t... |Read More

July was the month of chess weddings. Dutch super-GM Anish Giri got married to Georgian IM Sopiko Guramishvili, and Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek tied the knot with Russian WGM Alina Kashlinskaya.
If the title of this art... |Read More

It is impossible to become a world champion without mastering every facet of the game. Most champions, however, are remembered for their proficiency in one particular area of the game.
To this end, Wilhelm Steinitz is remembered as the founder o... |Read More

For a long time, the Petroff Defense (also known as the Russian Defense) has been a very solid weapon in situations where a draw is acceptable for Black. Through the end of the 20th century it featured prominently in top level tournaments, especia... |Read More

To the chess-players of England the 18th century was just a fading memory. Philidor had died and Verdoni, a man with a forgotten first name, took up his reins as professional at Parsloe's in London until he himself died in 1804. At th... |Read More

This series is about chess lessons and how a chess teacher tries to push key points home.
If you are looking for a chess teacher, don’t grab anyone that comes along! Take your time, take a lesson or two from various teachers so you can get... |Read More

Last week, we examined the depths of my chess ineptitude for the first 21 moves of a recent blitz game played on the Chess.com live server.
Join me, grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili, and the fictional voice of Stockfish 6 as we now analyz... |Read More

The Chinese chess prodigy Wei Yi wins the hearts of fans with every new tournament he plays. It is not just his phenomenal results (with his current rating, he should be the highest-rated 16-year-old ever!), but also his sparkling style of play th... |Read More

At its heart, chess is a logical game. Every move — no matter how outwardly mysterious — can be explained and rationalized. To be sure, an idea can (and often should) violate general principles, but it still must satisfy the ... |Read More

Garry Kasparov, the 13th world champion, is closely connected to the King's Indian Defense. Indeed, he has created much of the foundation of what the opening is today.
Yet, early on in his epic rivalry with Anatoly Karpov, Kasparov restricted hi... |Read More

Mr. Bone(Aug. 31, 1810 - Dec. 14, 1874)
William Bone, along with the Rev. Horatio Bolton, is considered to have been one of the two best early English chess problemists. John Augustus Miles, a problemist (who knew them both and stu... |Read More

This series is about chess lessons and how a chess teacher tries to push key points home. If you are looking for a chess teacher, don’t grab anyone that comes along! Take your time, take a lesson or two from various teachers so you can get a... |Read More

The response from the Chess.com community has been overwhelming.
Readers demand to see more of my ungainly intermediate chess.
Once again, the brilliant grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili has stooped down to my level to analyze ... |Read More

The last month was rich for chess tournaments, so I cannot blame you if you missed the U.S. Junior Girls Championship. Meanwhile, I suspect that you'll hear a lot in the future about some of the girls who played there.
If you ask me why I ... |Read More

Is chess art?
I bet that’s not the first time you’ve been asked that, or something like it. To the basic question, all kinds of answers have been offered, sometimes logical, sometimes passionate, sometimes contrived. Many might wonde... |Read More

The 2015 edition of Norway Chess was a memorable event in several ways. Above all, it heralded the resurgence of Veselin Topalov and Viswanathan Anand, who both stormed through the field and turned in 2900+ performances. Topalov won the tournament... |Read More

In today's world of competitive chess, it is easy to imagine that you have to surprise your opponent every time. That you have to continually rotate your openings to avoid preparation. That you cannot develop a deep understanding of an opening wit... |Read More

Many players dream of getting chess lessons, though they aren’t quite sure what it would be like. The fact is, the experience (for both the student and teacher) depends on several factors:
Question: Does the student want to learn or does h... |Read More

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